


Irrumabo

by matendoji (villacreek)



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Blow Jobs, Dom Takumi, Dubious Consent, Hand Jobs, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, in second chapter, possessed takumi, very fast burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-03
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2019-03-26 07:26:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13852896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/villacreek/pseuds/matendoji
Summary: “What,” he started, “kind of demand is this?”Yet another snicker rang out from that damn Hoshidan’s throat. “Is it not straightforward?”





	1. dusk

**Author's Note:**

> empty vessel takumi came out on feh and i nutted so hard a 3000word porn fic appeared
> 
> little to no proofreading. probably super ooc. just a warning.

Leo woke up in a dungeon, much to his utmost gripe. He immediately felt as such upon stirring, recognizing the cold, dingy air and the rough stone from his times traversing Nohr's own prisons. He was chained by his wrists, yet he refused to tug against his shackles nor yell out: his pride prevented him from lowering himself to the status of a typical convict, and his irritation towards his status greatly overwhelmed any anxiety towards it. Thus, only a quiet "tch" was uttered from his lips. His eyes squinted, studying his surroundings as they got used to the dimness of the room. He flexed his fingers to keep the blood flowing and tried to place where exactly he had been ensnared.   
Nothing really came to him. The generic stone and iron did not give him very much leeway. He thought back instead after a fruitless search, briefly recalling a battle whereupon he got thrown violently off his horse—he cringed slightly out of embarrassment—but other than that nothing came to him. His memory was strangely clouded. Another bitter sigh escaped him, and then a chuckle echoed into his ears.   


A certain chuckle, that sounded all-too-familiar.   
  
"You," Leo growled, deep from his chest in anger.   
  
"Me," purred the Hoshidan turning the corner. His grayish hair was swept up into a messy ponytail, and his bangs framed his face sharply. Leo duly noticed that he was...very underdressed, and that he carried no weaponry. For some reason, it sent a mild chill down his spine.   
  
"Did you fell my horse in battle, Hoshidan?" challenged Leo immediately. The newcomer did not grace him with a reply. His leathered footsteps tapped lightly across the stone, and Leo watched him carefully as he unlocked the door to the cell and stepped in—too casually, the Nohrian decided.   
As he was approached, he still received no answer. He tried another attempt. "Did y-"   
  
"God, Leo, did you always talk this much?" spat the newcomer. He knelt down to meet the blonde's eyes. "And you know my name."   
  
Leo's eyes narrowed. "Takumi," he said carefully. Takumi shot him a very pleased smirk.   
  
"Good boy."

“Good boy?!” spat Leo. “What the hell are y-”

A swift backhand to the face promptly quieted him. Leo replaced his defiant screeching with an equally defiant, scalding glare…which only seemed to amuse his captor even further. Takumi let out another, almost sleazy giggle, with a smirk painted across his face that dripped with sadistic pleasure and…something…that Leo just couldn’t quite place yet.  
  
“See?” continued Takumi. “You really are a good boy. You know your place.”  
  
“Forgive me for not wanting to test the patience of a Hoshidan royal,” retorted Leo, steadfast.

“Oh, do you ever wound me, blondie,” the royal drawled. He took one, two, three large steps forward, taking his sweet time with his lengthened stride, and Leo’s muscles tensed at the conviction of the movement.  
And then, with great horror, did he notice two things. One, the ruby-red glint in Takumi’s eyes. Two, the way Takumi’s tongue swiped hungrily over his lips when he had tensed because  __ almost all of his clothing had been removed.  
  


Another pang of acid embarrassment struck him. It had taken him this long to notice his own half-nakedness. Takumi seemed to relish in it.

“About time we get to the point of your…visit, hmm?” questioned Takumi coyly.

Leo’s piercing gaze did not waver. In response, Takumi knelt down on his hands and knees and leaned closer and closer to the blonde, crawling slightly in his descent until one of his hands landed on the ground in between Leo’s legs. The other was resting by his hip, grounded as well, and Leo felt strands of soft silvery hair tickling his bare chest. His breath hitched in his throat at the closeness, yet he did not dare try to retaliate: the Hoshidan prince did grace his presence unarmed, yet Leo could definitely sense some sort of murderous intent in his demeanor. Something…sinister at the very least.

Leo was not wrong. Takumi’s lips brushed against his ear, and a whispered message made his blood run cold:

 

“ _ Fuck me or die, Leo. _ ”

 

To his own awful, awful surprise, Leo did not immediately retch. His eyes narrowed testily, and he bit his cheek out of pure anger.

“What,” he started, “kind of demand is this?”

Yet another snicker rang out from that damn Hoshidan’s throat. “Is it not straightforward?” hummed Takumi, a film of cruel confidence stuck to his words. “Would you really die like this? I’ll have you know that if you want me to kill you  _ that  _ badly, I’ll make sure your precious family knows your death was worthless. Such a simple,  _ simple _ task, and yet you chose to die like a coward instead of live on to fight and another day…what will they think of you, I wonder? What sort of pain will their expressions hold?”

Leo paled. He could feel his own cold sweat, and unfortunately he could also feel something hotter within him that he chose to ignore. He did not grace Takumi with an answer.

“I wonder, will they show contempt for their cowardly brother?” came that Hoshidan purr.

“Just shut UP,” snapped Leo, and Takumi grinned.

“Answer me. Maybe I will.”

Tense silence settled in between the two for a moment. Leo hesitantly decided on a response. “…Why? Do you…why are you asking me this.”

“Oh, Leo, you’re fucking hot,” scoffed Takumi. “You’re hot, and you fight with no holds barred.” He licked his lips again. "Wouldn't I love to knock that into submission."

“...That’s all?”

“Well. You’re into it, too.” A fervent glint flashed across gleaming red eyes, and they flicked down to Leo’s smallclothes briefly before slipping back up to meet his gaze.

 

Oh, how Leo had tried to ignore that multiple times over the past few minutes. He couldn’t just…stop himself from…getting a little turned on? It was rather hard for him to express his sexuality as a prince, and only God knows the dark depths his  _ fantasies _ have reached when he lay in bed awake at night (or perhaps even God shaded his eyes from those.)

…He was also very touchstarved. And thus, his decision was made. He muttered it, very quietly.

 

“Oh? Say it louder,” hummed Takumi.

“Fuck me,” muttered Leo. 

The hand at Leo’s hip raised and mussed his hair lightly. “What a forward response,” sighed Takumi, obviously satisfied. “Then I’ll do as I please.”

“Wait,” choked Leo, acting purely on impulse now. He was about to be ravaged. No one was around. What the hell was the point in  _ thinking _ ? “I’ve never–”

" _ Done _ anything?” finished Takumi, “Then we'll start out like this." In an awfully swift movement he was back on his feet, while his pants took their place down around his ankles. Slender fingers hooked themselves underneath the waistband of his smallclothes and they too were slipped downwards, revealing a semihard member to the Nohrian prince's innocent eyes.   
Leo's lips pursed tightly and he averted his gaze, yet the other man grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked him back frontwards.   
"If you keep acting like this I'll drive a heel into your cock while you suck."   
  
Leo sputtered. "I-I'm going to—"   
  
"Mhmm." Takumi cut him off with another tug, and he was lurched closer towards his captor's dick.   
  
He almost reeled right back. He swore his eyesight was getting more and more clouded by the second due to the overwhelmingness of the situation building up till it hit the ceiling of the dungeon, but a couple of clicks and relief from his wrists brought his mind back with a jolt.

His hands were free.

“You’re smart enough not to try and escape, aren’t you?” came a murmur from above. Leo looked up slightly and was met with a wicked, lustful gaze.

“Sure,” he replied curtly before bringing his lips to the tip of Takumi’s cock.  


  
It was already sticky with arousal. He began to circle around it with his tongue, bringing his shackle-worn hands to stroke his length while he worked on the top. Takumi elicited a hiss through clenched teeth and Leo felt the grip on his hair tighten slightly. Perhaps he was thinking with his dick, now, but the feeling of being held in such a way only heightened his actions.

“A-Ah… _ fuck _ ,” gasped Takumi.

Leo had slid a hand down to grapple Takumi’s balls, his other hand supporting him on the ground as he began to bob his head. He enveloped Takumi’s length as much as he could within his throat, feeling a dark satisfaction at the gag reflex he could not currently sense.

 

Takumi was panting above him, the blonde hair in his hand getting increasingly messier from his frenzied hold on it. Leo worked his dick so damn  _ well _ for a sheltered Nohrian scumbag, and he had vehemently wished to not grace the blonde with his moans just yet, but he couldn’t help it.

“Mmh…aa-hn…Leo,  _ Leo _ ,” he groaned. “G-Go deeper, for fuck’s sake.”

 

Leo complied placidly, letting his lips near brush Takumi’s groin as he deepthroated his cock. Vile, vile thoughts plagued his mind, heading straight down between his legs as he felt the tip dipping down his throat with each pump of his head…and then suddenly he jerked away violently and let out a wet hack.  He was promptly yanked up to face a flushed, out-of-breath Takumi, still coughing. God  _ damn _ it, he had gagged. His eyes were fiery when they met the Hoshidan’s, the cock by his face wet, throbbing and hard.

…His doing. He felt a strange pride in it, and his hips shifted involuntarily. His own cock was hot with need.

Without words, Takumi forced Leo to the ground and once again tangled his fingers in blonde hair, keeping his head down and his ass up. Leo let out a few defiant grunts, but once he had assumed such a lewd position he relinquished a bit of his opposition. The hand in his hair slid down off his back.

He felt his last remaining scrap of clothing being slid slowly, dare he say amorously down his thighs. He gasped at the cool air hitting his cock suddenly, and almost reached an arm back to start pumping it himself. (He had much experience with that.)

 

“What’s this,” questioned Leo breathily. He sounded almost coy.

“Mmh…your asshole’s so  _ tight _ , Leo,” Takumi snickered. He slid a few of his fingers into his mouth and wet them liberally, slicking them once more on his tongue for good measure as he popped them out. “I’m prepping it for you.”

Without warning, Leo felt two fingers penetrating him, and he let out an embarrassingly loud moan. He heard Takumi laugh behind him, and the fingers began to move, pumping and scissoring inside him without giving him any time to process it.

“A-aa-ah! Mmh, Ta…Ta-akumi,” Leo moaned, flushing bright red at the lewd sounds he was making. He felt his legs tremble and his cock twitch with aching, painful anticipation. Takumi kept up with his relentless pumping, letting his fingers spread apart as wide as possible, and before long Leo had another inside him. Drool was pooling up on the stone where his face was pressed. His eyes kept quivering closed and back open again, his gaze starry from the jolts of pain and pleasure moving through him like static. He moaned like nobody’s damn business. He moaned as if he were Takumi’s personal whore.

“Mmm. You look beautiful,” purred Takumi, and he slid his fingers out with gusto. Leo groaned breathily at the feeling of emptiness. His cock  _ hurt _ .

“Can you just—” Leo’s voice began as a growl, but he cut himself off suddenly. The few rebellious ounces in him had just collapsed upon him like the building crumbling.

Takumi had promptly realized this. “Just what?” he challenged. Without waiting for a reply, he leaned himself over Leo’s body and let his lips lay near his ear once again. He hoisted himself to his knees as well, letting his cock rub against the Nohrian’s ass. “Tell me what you want.”

“God, I want you  _ in  _ me,” Leo spat out. He was heaving and in near pain from his arousal. At this point he just wanted,  _ needed _ relief.

He didn’t get it yet, much to his despair. Instead he just got a low, dangerous murmur in his ear.

 

“Beg for it.”

“Excuse me?! W-What–”

“Beg for it, you  _ whore _ !” Takumi’s voice commanded violently, and Leo felt a sharp slap to his ass. And oh, how he moaned.

“P-Please!” he shouted, resistance completely dissolved by now. “A-Aah, Takumi, please just  _ fuck _ me  _ hard _ , please give me your cock…aaahh-h—!

“ _ Yes _ ,” snarled Takumi, nails digging into Leo’s flesh. He thrust his cock as deep as he could into the blonde’s ass, hissing gleefully at the tightness of it around him. He lurched himself upright and began to pump in and out of Leo as violently as he could while still maintaining a rhythm, letting out low moans and pants at the illicit friction between them. Leo was an absolute wreck underneath him. The Nohrian prince was a moaning mess, and he called out Takumi’s name as if his life depended on it. Takumi loved every single utterance.

“T-Takumi,” sounded Leo. He had subconsciously started to move his hips with Takumi’s, squeezing his ass tighter. “Aah...a-aah, oh fuu-uck, Takumi…y-yes, right the-ere!”

“L-Leo,” Takumi hissed in reply. He pounded Leo’s prostate relentlessly, tilting his head back in pleasure. He could feel the heat twisting up in his core, tighter and tighter, and his movements became frantic and lost their rhythm—the two princes became a conglomerate of sweat and breath as Takumi grew closer and closer to his release.

He let out a loud gasp. “I’m coming…i-inside” he breathed, gripping Leo’s hips tightly and pulling him against his cock, taking control of the other’s movements at his edge. He finally let out a loud grunt as he came, cum filling Leo’s ass and leaking out ever-so-slightly as he rode out his high.

 

Leo sighed, voice wavering. His back bent into a catlike arch as he savored the feeling of cum inside him, mewling when Takumi finally exited him with a lewd, sticky noise.  After everything, though, he still wasn’t satisfied. His cock still throbbed, precum coating his tip. He repositioned himself so that he was laying on his back.

“Help me,” he huffed, spreading his legs. His cock stood up shamelessly for the Hoshidan prince to see.

“And why should I?” Takumi himself was panting doggedly, only giving Leo a look of disdain with his hazy red eyes.

“I’m your whore, aren’t I?” Leo deadpanned. He let a smirk flash across his face at the hunger that had near-immediately returned to Takumi’s gaze. He had found what made him tick. 

Before long there was a slim hand wrapped around his cock, pumping it  _ torturously _ slow. “Ta-a-kumi…” he whined.

“Oh? Can’t cum like this?” Takumi wasn’t even looking at him while he moved his hand.

“Please…good god,  _ please _ .” Leo wondered if the begging tone was another thing that set this guy off. Before he knew it, Takumi’s free hand was in his hair messily and their lips were pressed together in heated passion, and Takumi was milking his cock like no tomorrow. Leo panted and moaned into their kiss, reaching a hand up to tug lightly on the Hoshidan’s long, soft hair, all the while getting his own hair messed up even more by the other’s grip. He felt a finger drag roughly across the tip of his cock and he moaned deeply, gasping when he felt Takumi’s tongue slipping into his mouth. Hot, wet noises reverberated across the stone. “I-I’m gonna cum,” gasped Leo the moment they broke for air.

“A-aa-hh—! Aaa…aah, Takumi…” Leo came hard all over Takumi’s hand, panting heavily.

“Dirty whore,” scoffed Takumi, bringing his hand up to his mouth to lap up the semen coating it. Leo watched him intently. He halfheartedly cursed himself for thinking of how sexy it looked.

 

And as he sat there, it suddenly dawned on him that he was not sure what was going to happen to him now that he had complied with Takumi’s demands. He cursed himself again, more strongly, for not thinking his decision through more (although a little dark sliver of him seemed to conclude that he would’ve chosen the same path no matter how long he deliberated over it.) His brows twitched slightly as he went over the possibilities.   
Would he even be able to leave this cell? There were no details given about that. The deal itself was disgustingly vague—fuck me or  _ die _ —and with Takumi’s smooth words and setup he had made him feel as if there were no other choice.

And then, with a start, Leo snapped his head up to meet Takumi’s eyes.

 

“Fuck” didn’t necessarily mean just one time, did it.

 

Takumi gazed at him with delicious anticipation as realization came upon his face in waves. The same sinister crimson pierced his body eagerly. “Do you have something to ask me, Leo?” asked the Hoshidan, flipping some flowing gray hair out of his face with a slight flick of his head. “Perhaps you’d like some statistics? Numbers? A foretelling of your future, just maybe…?”

“You will  _ talk _ ,” commanded Leo. At first he almost tried to stand up, yet there were royal fluids drying on his ass and he was stark naked. Not a very intimidating sight. “What are you going to do with me n—”

“I’m keeping you.”

 

No words were spoken after. The promptness and sheer confidence of the answer gave Leo whiplash. Yet  _ another _ laugh hit his ears.

 

“Are you  _ surprised _ ? Surely you aren’t, Leo!” Takumi exclaimed with glee. The glint in his eyes was almost...inhumane. “Why the hell would I just let you leave after this? Ravage your ass and then just plop you gently back into the sweet Nohrian plains like nothing happened? No. No, you’re mine now. You’re mine.”

Leo’s eyes dropped to the floor of the cell. It felt so much more claustrophobic than it had moments ago. He had no idea what to say in response to this preposterous declaration, yet with a sinking feeling in his stomach, he did not flinch or shy away from the arms that wrapped themselves around his shoulders or the hair that tickled his back. Takumi had leaned forward and enveloped him in...a surprisingly gentle embrace.

“We’re going to watch the world burn,” Takumi whispered excitedly. “You...you and me. You’re so smart, Leo, and you’re such a talented mage…please don’t think I’m keeping you around just for sex, dear.”

He was being treated as if he were glass. Like a precious treasure. Leo trembled in Takumi’s arms and could not think straight for the life of him, his arms slack at his sides. And when the Hoshidan prince...no, this was not truly the Hoshidan prince anymore.

When his captor, his sadistic captor drew back and bore him with a loving gaze, far from any sort of look its original host may have had for him, Leo stared back into his eyes with only the faintest bit of his humanity intact.

In all but minutes he felt as if his will had been near sapped away, and he found that whatever was left of him might have even  _ wanted _ to stay here. Perhaps it was that little bit of darkness he had felt before?

 

“We...will do more of that, though. Won’t we?” he mumbled.

  
“Oh, but of course. Those  _ were _ my terms.”


	2. dawn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this part is Pretty Sfw Actually
> 
> i thought it might be interesting to delve into their relationship post-dungeon-fucking so this...short...thing...kind of slowly seeped into existence? ahhhhhhhhh

Dawn fogged into Takumi’s room through a half-closed window. It drifted over his face, highlighting the tiredness of his baggy eyes, the furrow of his brow, the wavering crimson of his gaze fading in and out. He had been sitting at the low table in his room all night without a minute of sleep.

 

He had been getting more and more used to Anankos’s presence. He could—albeit with a little struggle sometimes—separate his own thoughts and feelings from those that were shrouded in a dark haze, those that were forced into his mind and threatened to take control.

 

However, there were two things that kept him up at night fighting the darkness in his core. Two things that were the nightmares that plagued his open eyes: his family, and the Nohrian prince fast asleep down the hall. He felt a shudder flow through him, one that was a bit more strong than he was used to, and he immediately clutched his sides as if to ground himself.

 

With the latter, he found himself saddled with…confusing feelings. He remembered what had happened in the dungeon and the carnal urges that had overtaken him. He knew  _ that _ had been the work of Anankos, along with those sweet words of conquest that seemed to have been laced with some sort of hexed venom. It had entranced Leo and equally entranced himself. And whether or not the spell still had an effect on the Nohrian prince, he seemed to be here to stay.

 

Takumi bit his lip. Not like he minded. In fact, he was almost grateful—he had to admit Leo’s presence had helped dramatically in keeping himself in touch with reality. With every interaction, he felt a certain...warmth wash over him. It filled the unnerving emptiness of the castle.

 

His family was gone, so besides Leo and his retainers in another wing, there was no one left.

 

When he had taken down Prince Leo, suddenly taking him as a prisoner had been a clouded last resort. Desperate measures. At that point, he had lost sight of Sakura trailing close behind him and dared not look back to see how she fared. Hinoka no longer soared around in the sky nor was her rallying voice heard within the fray. And Ryoma was on the ground. Trampled. Of all ways to go. He had witnessed this, witnessed him locked in heated combat with Prince Xander of Nohr before that  _ impudent _ Corrin suddenly rushed in and tried to mediate the fighting and Xander lost control of his horse for  _ just a brief moment _ —

 

“Ghhck—!” grunted Takumi, his hands shooting up from his sides to clutch his head. Corrin. That name was poison in his head and thinking it felt like needles were pricking and stabbing all over his brain.

 

He doubled over the table and pressed—no,  _ slammed _ his face to the cool wood, grabbing fistfuls of his hair and pulling. His breath came in heaves and he felt a cold sweat drenching his body. His stomach turned and he swallowed back bile.

 

It had been like this in waves all night.

 

* * *

 

Leo was, to say the least, surprised at his decent treatment in Hoshido. He felt that it was in part because Takumi was the sole royal left.

 

The two retainers, Hinata and Oboro, both gave him a once-over upon his arrival. Their eyes were lifeless and war-ridden. They both looked so very tired.

 

“…Lord Takumi brought you here, didn’t he?” Hinata had said, his hair a mess and his face scarred. Leo had responded with a brief, modest nod. Oboro blew a thick puff of air from her lips.

 

“Well that’s that,” she huffed bitterly, turning around and slapping her compadre on the shoulder hard to signal him to do the same. Then she walked off without checking if he had complied.

 

Hinata had taken advantage of this and lingered, meeting Leo’s eyes and staring a long, hard, and pleading stare.

 

“Can you help him,” he had said, his voice a vulnerable whisper. “Everyone’s gone, his family’s all gone, and he told us to leave him alone. But he keeps you around.” The brunette’s voice wavered. He gulped down a lump in his throat. “There’s…something wrong with him. And I think he kinda likes you. So just…please, just…”

 

He had met Leo’s gaze for a few moments longer before tearing himself away and dashing after Oboro.

 

Help a Hoshidan prince after being begged by one of his retainers. He wanted to scoff at the matter, but something inside him compelled him not to. That same something that compelled him not to try and escape and return to his own kingdom. With a gripe, he acknowledged that it  _ probably _ wasn’t whatever spell Takumi had put on him back in the dungeon. That…had just made him submissive, if anything. How revolting.

 

He contemplated it as the sun rose, laying like a mummy atop of the futon in the room he had been given. That spell had been wearing off. It might already be completely gone, what with his clear thinking, yet Takumi had made no moves to try and reinforce it. Leo suspected that whatever was possessing Takumi—there’s no way he  _ wasn’t  _ possessed, right?—was perhaps losing its hold. The Hoshidan’s demands had certainly decreased since his first encounter with him.

 

And their few succeeding encounters had almost been in complete silence. Leo found it best to keep his mouth shut. He did not want to risk making such awful noises again. Takumi had made no noise himself besides the occasional growl or snicker, which he hadn’t minded. Unlike when he had been chained up, these had felt more like...real intimacy, he daresay, rather than just fulfilling basic needs.

 

Real intimacy. Between Nohrian and Hoshidan princes. What the hell was he playing at, he thought dryly. It was quiet  _ because _ they were fulfilling basic needs, so what needed to be said?

 

Right?

 

Leo sucked an irritable breath through his teeth and tried to push those images out of his mind, since he knew if he started thinking so ardently about sex his body would have the  _ natural _ reaction, and he did not want that right now. He did  _ not _ want that at  _ all. _ He—

 

_ THUMP.  _ From Takumi’s room. The blonde jumped slightly.

 

It was...so early in the morning.

 

Such a loud thump could not be a good sign. And slowly, Leo found himself hoisting upwards off of the futon and padding lightly to the hallway.

 

He slid his own door open and closed again as quietly as he could manage, and then moved down towards Takumi’s with a slight bit of hesitance. Even from outside, the blonde could hear ragged breathing, and he wondered mildly if it would be okay for him to just...step in.

 

Were they on that level of closeness? Surely not.

 

“ _ Leo _ ,” came a strained voice from within the room, cutting off his line of thought before he could contemplate any further. Still with hesitance, he slipped open the door to Takumi’s quarters and gazed down curiously at the sight before him.

 

Takumi’s silvery hair was badly knotted, and his fingers wound through it and tugged on it roughly, knuckles white. His face was shrouded by his arms and was pressed down on his table, and his knees were drawn up as close to his body as he could manage with his head-down position. His robes appeared to be damp with perspiration, and his chest indeed heaved like he had heard from outside. Leo really did not know what to say or do. He felt awkward, like he was intruding.

 

And then all of a sudden, Takumi turned towards him. His head was still on the table, but his arms moved with a flash, and Leo was met with bloodshot eyes that seemed to flow in and out of reality. In fact, Takumi’s entire body almost seemed to be pulsing.

 

“Come  _ here _ .” He grunted a command through his teeth. The tone of voice seemed to make him wince, and Leo…felt like he should do  _ something _ .

 

But he stood fast. He wasn’t sure what was going on. He did not want another encounter like the one in the dungeon, because it was humiliating no matter what it had felt like, and for all he knew that was exactly how Takumi was playing his cards: he had been acting especially strange back then, too. Leo did not want to fall into some sort of stupid trap and get himself hypnotized again.

 

He opened his mouth to express as such. “And why should I—”

 

“G-ghhh-hhck—!” Takumi interrupted him with a grunt. The Hoshian’s teeth were being grit ridiculously loud, and there was an infernal  _ scree-ee-itch _ coming from his direction…Leo’s eyes followed the sound, and he gasped silently at the sight of Takumi dragging his nails across the table ‘till they bled.

 

“You’re hurting yourself, Prince Takumi,” he muttered, testing his waters and slowly inching toward the disheveled royal. He found his brow to be furrowed with worry…compulsively so, but he chose not to fight it. 

 

As he got closer, he could make out more horrid details of the other man’s face. His nose had been running onto the sleeves of his robe, and on top of that he seemed to have been  _ foaming at the mouth,  _ making a very…unsightly stain. He bleakly noticed spots of wetness from tears, as well. And good lord, he looked exhausted. Leo’s breath hitched at the thought of this, since if Takumi passed out, he would have no idea what to do with him. Who knows where the retainers lodged in this place— _ if _ they lodged in this place—and he didn’t exactly have a strong first-aid background like his little sister…

 

Before he knew it, he found himself kneeling down next to Takumi, close enough to loom over him but far enough so that they weren’t touching.

 

Takumi closed that distance rapidly. Leo jerked away at the feeling of the other’s face buried in his chest, his arms clinging to him tightly and fingers gripping at his robe like they were his one tether to reality. The blonde felt as if he were being constricted. He almost tried to break away.

 

Then he felt the erratic beating of Takumi’s heart, and he softened a little bit.

 

“You’re going to get blood on me,” he said blankly, his voice still inadvertently coming out in a pompous mutter. Takumi hissed at him.

 

They sat there together. Minutes passed.

 

Eventually Leo brought his own arms up around Takumi. The Hoshidan had been holding them tight against his body since he had leapt up, but Leo had tenderly squeezed them out of his grasp. Takumi had tensed up at the motion at first, but slacked with a shaky breath when he felt his embrace being returned.

 

Leo’s eyes flicked towards the door that led to a patio across the room. Light filtered in through the papered wall, and he figured it was well into morning by now. How long had they been sitting like this, he wondered.

 

Against him, Takumi heaved out a sob and nuzzled his head against Leo’s chest. He was still breathing heavily, yet his overall disposition seemed to have calmed. The two of them sitting with the soft light of dawn soaking into the room was a sight that seemed almost tranquil. Leo was rather content himself: it had been a long time, he realized, since he had been in such close, gentle contact with another person. He was distant in nature, but Takumi...could counteract that.

 

“Thanks,” whispered Takumi, breaking the silence.

 

“For what?” Leo mumbled in reply. All he had done was sit there.

 

Despite his thoughts, he felt a mild scoff against his chest. “You’re kidding, right? I could’ve…”

 

He faltered.

 

Silence rose between them once more. Heavier silence, this time, as Takumi leafed through words to describe his outbursts. Leo watched the top of his head silently as he thought, fondness sprinkled into his gaze. Of course, he wasn’t aware of that.

 

“…Look, you just. Helped me a lot.” Takumi pursed his lips against the fabric of Leo’s robe, hesitating before continuing on. “Have been helping, actually. I…if you hadn’t been around…I’m not sure I’d still be…”

 

He sighed. His voice dropped down to a whisper, subdued and vulnerable. “…Thank you.”

 

The Hoshidan prince nuzzled against him once more. After a moment, he looked up to meet Leo’s gaze as well, pulling away ever so slightly to see the blonde’s face clearly. He held on as if he didn’t want to break away, however.

“Thank you for staying. I don’t know why you did, but…gods.”

 

Leo looked back at Takumi and felt a gentle smile tugging at his lips, but he stayed firm. “I wasn’t sure myself,” he replied.

 

“Wha–”

 

“–But I can’t just leave you looking like this all the time. You push your retainers away, but you make no move to do the same to me. Why is that?”

 

“Why is that?” repeated Takumi, like a sick puppy trying to be vicious. “You’re the one who didn’t leave after the  _ dungeon _ .”

 

A pause.

 

“I mean, I know some magic was tied into that, but once it wore off—”

 

“—Forgive me for feeling pity towards you in your pathetic state. Would you rather me leave?”

 

Leo could tell his words were like a punch in the gut. “No,” insisted Takumi. 

 

“Are you going to try and ensnare me again?”

 

“Ensnare—? No!”

 

“Then why do y—”

 

“Just  _ shut up! _ ” Takumi yelped, breaking into a coughing fit promptly afterwards. Red-brown eyes watched him calmly, thoughtfully. 

 

Takumi hacked fiercely. His back was arched over drastically, and his head was mere inches from smacking the ground at each heave. His wheezing slowly, slowly faded to little jolts, then to nothing at all—and he was still. Leo waited patiently, still observing him without a word.

 

And eventually, the Hoshidan prince spoke.

 

“I…I need...” Takumi rasped, hesitating. “...I need someone like you. A…A connection to the outside. My retainers just  _ dote _ , and they’re usually a calming presence but I can’t  _ have _ that now…and– but– you’re not  _ like _ that. You’re not.” There was a shaky pause in his words.

 

And then he whispered, voice barely audible, his disposition crumbling for a split second into nothing but vulnerability. “Your presence makes me feel like I’m really here. Like...I still have something.”

 

Leo sucked in a breath himself, clenching his fists to keep from trembling. The exposure was like a knife twisting in his gut. He had only heard this tone of voice once before, from his little sister, and he never expected to ever hear it a second time—from Takumi, of all people. It felt...wrong. It felt like Takumi was prey rolling over for its predator, underbelly exposed for a rapid kill.

 

In a fit of realization, Leo realized that Takumi was most likely fully aware of this. Takumi trusted him not to act as the predator. Takumi had no one left but the Nohrian prisoner in front of him.

 

“So that’s why.” Leo’s lips parted in a murmur. “That’s...truly what you think of me.”

 

Takumi made no motion to reply. His head continued to hang, hair falling like an old curtain in front of his face. Very slowly, Leo reached a hand towards the other man, picking up silvery strands across his outstretched fingers and draping them over Takumi’s shoulder. The same hand moved to tenderly push up on Takumi’s chin, moving chastely across his jawline with the calmness of a saint.

 

At the touch, Takumi’s head lifted, and his and Leo’s eyes gently met. For a moment, all they did was stare, taking each other in, trickling into the other’s presence like morning dew dripping down off fresh leaves. Leo was the first to move into an embrace, and Takumi followed suit. Once again, pulled close to each other in such a way, Leo could feel the beating of Takumi’s heart, and it softened him once more. At this point, however, Leo was already plush.

 

No words were exchanged, but their embrace said enough for Takumi to know Leo had no intentions of going anywhere. Together in the gentle sunlight, Takumi already felt like himself again. For just this moment, he could push away everything that made his head spin and his chest burn, and as he sank deeper into Leo’s arms, he felt whole.

**Author's Note:**

> "uhhhhhh what do i name this"  
> https://imgur.com/a/tQjeI


End file.
